


Misdemeanour

by MacBeth13



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Young Delenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-11
Updated: 2010-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-06 08:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/416997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacBeth13/pseuds/MacBeth13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Delenn finds herself straying from the beaten path while at temple</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misdemeanour

**Author's Note:**

> kungfuwaynewho requested another little Delenn fic. Delenn is around the human equivalent to a young teenager in this story. Hope you enjoy Shannon! :)  
> Disclaimer: Babylon 5 ‘verse and it’s characters belong to JMS, just borrowing for fun and entertainment.

 

  

It was still dark when the bells rang to wake the students from their slumber and to call them to temple. The temshwee sang in the trees outside. Delenn was used to the routine after many years of practice: awaken to the ring of the bells, dress for the day, clean up one’s sleeping area and then head to temple for the day’s classes. She was the model student. Grading higher than most of her other classmates, one of the most dedicated to her work, not getting into too much trouble. She had a habit of voicing her thoughts a little too avidly sometimes but that was the closest to getting into trouble she had ever gotten. It was a wonder then, that on such a typical morning an idea so radical as the one she had that morning would not only strike her but that she follow through with such a thing.

She lagged behind the other students, enjoying the way the morning mist swirled back in behind them after their bodies cut through it. The morning was crisp but held the promise of a beautiful spring day. The morning sun would burn off the lingering fog and mists. A light breeze ruffled the new light green leaves on the trees and Delenn looked up to them and spotted the temshwee that was singing. It was far too nice of a day to be trapped inside a classroom. She looked to the hills surrounding the cluster of buildings that made up the Temple, the place of schooling. She wondered about how lovely it would be to watch the crystalline buildings make prisms of colour as the sun rose and the wind made the crystals sing. That was when she veered off from the path and started to walk up the hill.

Her classmates had already been swallowed by the mists and she believed no one had noted her absence. The hike up the grassy hill was a welcome exertion. By the time she reached the top the pre-dawn light was brighter. She looked down into the valley below still shrouded in the grey mist. Delenn also noticed a figure emerge from the mist. They were headed up the hill towards her. At first she was frightened, thinking that she had been caught in her excursion by one of her Sechs before it had really begun. As the person grew closer, however, she recognized who it was and her fear dissipated.

“Delenn, why are you not going to temple?”

“I was going to but then I…it is hard to explain, Mayan,” she told her friend with a shake of her head.

“Try to explain and I will try to understand,” Mayan looked upon her kindly.

Delenn sat upon the grass and Mayan sat beside her. The morning light was starting to burn away the mist even though the sun had not quite risen yet. In the silence between them Delenn could hear the crystals sing. She took time to think of what to say and Mayan waited patiently.

“Finding the right words has always been your gift. I was behind everyone in line to go to temple and I meant to go as well. Then I got to thinking about how I have been here at temple for several years now and have never stopped to enjoy the beauty in the landscape and the buildings and life all around this place. I have never stopped to watch the sun rise over the valley and today seemed like the perfect day to do so.”

“But why today, Delenn? Why not on one of the days of rest?”

“I do not know. Maybe because the sunrise will be different then. The wind might not be making the crystal sing as it is today. I cannot truly explain why this feeling came over me, it just did. Valen help me for the consequences I must face for it. You should go to class, Mayan. Do not suffer punishment for an outlandish thought of mine.”

“No, I think I will stay with you and watch and listen as well. How can I ever become a master of the Ti’la if I do not experience beauty such as this?” she gestured to the valley. The sunlight had risen behind them and was just starting to touch the tops of the crystal spires. The first prisms of refracted light and colour were just starting to dapple the grounds.

Delenn and Mayan remained sitting upon the hill in silence for a time. The spectrum of colours being projected over the grounds grew in length and numbers as the sun shone more brightly on the sparkling buildings. Every now and again the wind picked up and they could hear the whispering song of the crystals singing.

“I wonder how angry Sect Draal will be?” Mayan spoke her thoughts aloud, as she often did.

“I do not know. I hope he will not be too cross. I have always been fond of him.”

“And he has always been equally fond of you.”

“And so he may be even more hurt by my actions because of it. Still, I wish he could see the beauty of this morning and perhaps then he would understand a little better,” Delenn said with her chin propped up by her hand, her elbow on her knee.

“Delenn, do you honestly think Draal experiencing this would make him less cross with us?” Mayan sounded incredulous.

“Somehow I doubt your reasoning as well, so please, Delenn, explain it to me,” a familiar baritone voice said from behind them.

Delenn’s eyes went wide in surprise and fear. Bowing her head and lowering her gaze she rose to her feet and turned toward her teacher.

“I am sorry, Master,” Delenn began to apologize in a timid voice, so scared was she. Timid was not her usual way and well everyone knew it. If Delenn had looked up then she would have seen the smile that had appeared and was hastily hidden on Draal’s face.

“Go on, Delenn of the family Mir. I would like to know why you chose to skip my class to sit atop this hill?”

“Do not blame Mayan; she only followed me,” Delenn said, in a rush, to defend her friend. Draal’s gaze flicked to Mayan then settled back upon Delenn. “The morning held so much promise with the wind gently blowing making the crystals sigh and I knew the sun would be rising making the crystal spires shine in every colour one could think of and I…I do not know what came over me. I just, I knew that I needed to come here and experience the wonder that is this place.”

“And Mayan, what made you come up here?”

“I was heading to class and then I noticed Delenn was not with us. I saw her walking up this hill. I was going to leave her be but something told me that I should follow her. It was so unlike her to just wander off alone and miss class.”

“So you both felt compelled to follow these urges rather than come to class?” Draal asked rhetorically as he sat upon the grass where they had been sitting moments ago. “I have asked Sect Rakiri teach the rest of the class so I could come out here to find you two. Sit.” Delenn and Mayan were quick to oblige.

The three sat in silence upon the hill watching the sun finish its rise to shine upon the buildings that made up their school. The wind continued to gently blow and make the crystals sigh their songs. Several times Delenn opened her mouth to speak and perhaps apologize some more but every time she did Draal held his hand up calling for silence. When fifteen minutes of strained silence had passed Delenn gave in and decided to just enjoy what she came up the hill for in the first place. If she were to be punished she might as well make it worth it, she decided. Another fifteen minutes passed and the sun was fully risen.

Draal rose and motioned for them to follow him. Still no words were spoken. They followed behind him quietly, their classmates watching them on their silent march. A few boys from the warrior caste pointed and laughed until Draal gave them a pointed glare. Draal led the two girls to his office.

“You do understand that skipping class is a serious offense, something that is severely punished here at temple?”

“Yes, Master,” both girls chorused.

“However, the circumstances put me in a very unusual position. I am your teacher in philosophy and prophecy. As such I hold the idea of following the calling of one’s heart above all else, as our people should and do. So how can I punish you for doing that even if to do so you broke temple rules.”

“Master?” Delenn didn’t quite understand what he was saying.

“You said you went to the hill for some unknown reason, that you felt compelled to do so, Delenn. Mayan, you said you felt pulled to follow Delenn. Both of you were following the calling of your hearts. A small calling in the grand scheme of things but a calling never the less. So now the question is, what to do about your having skipped class to do so.”

Delenn and Mayan shared a worried and confused glance while Draal looked out his window pondering their fates. As Draal began to pace the office in thought the girls returned their gaze downward. Delenn smoothed her robes and made sure her back was straight. After a few moments Draal pulled a book off of one of his shelves. It looked well loved and a little care-worn. Delenn recognized it as one of the reprint books containing and examining the prophecies of Valen.

“You two will serve out your punishment with me, as I’m the one that was affronted. You will attend special classes after all your other lessons to study Valen’s prophecies and how they will ask many Minbari to follow difficult callings in the coming years.”

To Delenn this wasn’t much punishment as she had always been fond of studying Valen and his prophecies. She had always been fascinated by the ancient writings and tales of the great war against the darkness nearly a thousand years ago. They had never been allowed to read all of the prophecies as some were deemed unsuitable for children’s ears. Perhaps, Delenn hoped, now she would get the chance to read those prophecies of the future as Draal’s words seemed to suggest.

“Now, then,” Draal told them, “you two had best be getting to your next class before your offend another teacher, yes?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Until this afternoon.”

Both girls bowed properly in respect to their teacher. As they made their way to their next class Mayan pondered aloud their punishment.

“I wonder why he chose to give us extra classes as punishment?”

“I do not know.”

“But you do not mind it either, do you?” Mayan asked with a smirk.

Delenn realized that she could not deny what her friend had said and merely smiled. She found herself looking forward to her punishment for her misdemeanour very much.

 

 

 

 

 

              


End file.
